The Dirt Band

Without a knowledge of whom this band was and by glancing at the disc in a shop, the cover gives you little hints of the simple joys you will find within. If I was prowling through the racks and opened up this cover and saw the homely black and white photo (no offense to the Dirt Band) I would surmise I was going to find some bush band playing atypical Australian country songs.

Far from it on this gem of a disc!! Definitely not one I would throw back if I found it on my fishing line, even if it is just slightly under the legal weight. With a collective of Australian artists banded together in rural Queensland in 2003, they wear their influences on there sleeves without sounding like copycats. With influences from the inner sanctum of local alternative rock like Nick Cave and the Cruel Sea to Neil Young and the Cowboy Junkies, this little outfit has a nice down home feel.

Can I Please You? has the haunting sound of the aforementioned bands and damn, it does have some soul to it. Especially the rave up on the guitars at the close makes me smile!

The changes you’ll find within these grooves are quite interesting, if not perfect. The first track, Barbed Wire, is one of the better songs written about the migrants of the planet looking for a better place to be and Pick Up Sticks brings to mind a little surf and country number if that is a genre. The two male vocals of Chris Fletcher and Grant Thornton are excellently matched.

The sounds of Narcism with its groovy little mandolin break and harmonies whip into the next track Chances which give this disc the first bit of rocking and rolling. Interestingly enough, it may be one of the few songs in the Australian catalogue that mentions Stanthorpe, Australia where this homegrown album was recorded. OK, it maybe the only song that mentions this Queensland town! If you know of any others, let me know.

Another Shade of Me and Kitchen Days fall into that late night melancholic sound that the band seems to capture well.

The vocals of Ceccy Van Heumen are quite tender and moving to listen to either on lead or harmonies and quite possibly without knowing it sounds like Nancy Jeffries from the sixties band The Insect Trust. The playing throughout by Andy Wilmot on drums, Ray Luhrmann and Chris Fletcher on guitars (formerly of the Splatterheads), and Grant Thornton on mandolin is more then just basic, it fits the overall tone of the production perfectly.

The only cover on the album is done admirably well and with a different style then you might expect. This version of Buck Owens Cryin' Time would sit well on any new compilation of Americana, well let’s call it Austaliana.

White Boong closes the long player with a punch at racism and class in Australia and bookends the political start.This band of artists has been playing locally and has performed at the Big Day out in 2005 and will be coming to the Basement in Sydney on the 7th of November and Melbourne on the 9th of November. Go check em out, pawdner!
- Faster Louder.com